A huge beige brick building near St. Paul’s North End is home to BIPOC and women-owned small businesses, from a clothing retailer and a mental health professional to an entertainment production company and several personal trainers. I am.
Despite obvious differences in their businesses, the entrepreneurs at Mari Center, which opened in June, all share three important things. They are deeply committed to the community, they wear many hats, and they go back to Tyrone Miner.
Minor, the founder and dreamer of the Mari Center at 576 Front Ave., grew up in the Rondo area, attended St. Paul Central High School, Drake University, and the University of Minnesota, and currently works as a physical education teacher in Osseo, Minn. . .
A gifted track and field athlete, Minor is also the owner of personal training business Chizel Inc. and health and fitness company FIT Lab. Both companies are now part of Mali Center.
“I’m at a stage in my life where I’m starting to think about the legacy I’m leaving behind,” said Miner, who recently celebrated his 54th birthday.
When Miner’s longtime landlord decided not to renew the lease for Miner’s FIT Lab in 2023, Miner said, “I never missed a rent payment in seven years,” but he decided now was the time to make the leap. He said he realized it was time.
“Owning commercial real estate can provide opportunities for entrepreneurs,” Miner said. And that’s exactly what he’s doing at Mari Center, providing business owners with private offices, gym equipment, meeting rooms, and access to a community-driven entrepreneurial ecosystem.
“Dream bigger”
“We met in third grade,” Eric Goodrow said of Tyrone Miner.
Goodrow is currently the president of the Fairway Foundation, a nonprofit organization that promotes the sport of golf to young black Americans.
Goodrow said golf teaches kids sportsmanship, integrity and ethics, “because you have to impose your own penalties.”
As Miner was renovating the 5,400-square-foot facility that would become the Mali Center, he asked Goodrow what the Fairway Foundation needed.
“It’s a net for golfers to practice their swings,” Goodrow said. “He told me, ‘Dream bigger.'”
Havana Smith, 9, of St. Paul, practices her swing on a golf simulator at Mari Center. (John Oti/Pioneer Press)
The Fairway Foundation currently has its own golf simulator at Mari Center. Much to the children’s delight, the simulator allows golfers to continue practicing throughout the winter.
Dr. Jermaine M. Davis, a motivational speaker, author, and professor, was also approached by Miner to become part of the Mali Center.
“Why do you want to be a part of this?” he asked Davis.
Davis, who travels frequently for presentations and keynotes, said she wanted a place where she could teach and host workshops.
Motivational speaker Dr. Jermaine M. Davis speaks at the Mari Center in St. Paul’s North End neighborhood on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (John Oti/Pioneer Press)
MariCenter calls it the “Ingenuity Room,” and it’s designed like a large conference room with desks, couches, and the necessary technology.
Aneesha Kelly, a mental health professional who runs the company Purpose Health and Wellness in Mali Center and is working toward obtaining a clinical license, also has high hopes for the Office of Creativity.
Kelly, who ran track and field with Minor, said she hopes to use the Ingenuity Room to host group therapy sessions, such as grief group counseling and groups for first responders of color.
Dr. Sheila Sweeney, a psychotherapist and author and speaker for Peaces ‘n PuzSouls, said she first met Minor through a fitness class, but she had many reasons to move her practice to Mari Center.
Mr. Sweeney, who has a private office, said he can close the door when he needs privacy and can work with entrepreneurs such as Mr. Kelly, Mr. Davis and Dr. Kasim Abdul Razak. “When I’m here, I’m in the community,” Sweeney said.
Razak, who is also a speaker, author and psychotherapist, said he is working to get more Black men involved in the mental health field.
Of all the tenants, Razak may have the shortest history with the miners. The two met just a few years ago.
Upon further investigation, they both grew up in the Rondo area, and Minor was coaching Razak’s younger sister in track and field. “It’s almost impossible that we didn’t meet sooner,” Razak said.
Mr. Razak’s office is now next door to Mr. Sweeney’s, and he said the two are “talking” and “bouncing ideas off each other” at the Mari Center.
Other local entrepreneurs at the center with ties to St. Paul include Chadwick “Niles” Phillips, who was once mentored by Miner and is now the founder of the entertainment production company Avant Garde, and Miner’s childhood friend; Includes Robert “RL” Davis. Miner has a retail store, RighteouSouls, on the main floor of Mari Center.
Egan’s Meg Katzman, who is developing herself and her business, works out under the supervision of Aspire Fitness trainer Michel Darge (right) in the FIT Lab at Mali Center. (John Oti/Pioneer Press)
Minor said MariCenter’s main tenant is FIT Lab, a state-of-the-art fitness facility that is rented by about 10 personal trainers to operate their businesses.
Ann Schwalbe said her fitness business, Gentle Strength, might not have been possible without FIT Lab’s resources.
Schwalbe, who is considering entering the fitness field, said she has struggled to find the right fit since she works full time in the public health sector.
“I was looking for a place to go on my own and it felt like the perfect place didn’t exist,” she said.
Schwalbe, a mother in her 40s, decided to fill a niche for herself and launched Gentle Strength with help from FIT Lab.
“I strive to make the gym an inclusive space and reach people who may feel scared or out of place going to the gym,” Schwalbe said.
“I set my own prices, I bring my own customers, my own brand, and I do my own marketing,” she said. “As a small business owner, if I had tried to open this on my own, this would not have been possible.”
Whitney Cantrell, owner of Workout With Whitney, and Jamie Miner, owner of StrengthIN Consulting and wife of Tyrone Mine, are just a few of the other trainers who use FIT Lab to offer classes. .
Nine-year-old Sephirah Dragseth (center) of St. Paul participates in a workout from fitness trainer Whitney Cantrell’s Workout with Whitney (WoWW) program. (John Oti/Pioneer Press)
The training equipment is available to all Mari Center members and its use is encouraged, Miner said. Because one of his beliefs is “If you’re not working on yourself, you can’t develop your business.”
Michelle Dalluge, a personal trainer and owner of Aspire Fitness, was in a similar situation to Schwalbe and found support and resources through Minor and FIT Lab.
Dalge has about 15 clients she works with in personal training sessions, but the Mari Center provides her with more than just a training space.
In August, Dalge was part of a group at the Mari Center that worked together to host a back-to-school family fun night. The event handed out school supplies and free haircut coupons and brought the community together, Miner said.
“Companies that benefit economically from a community should give back to that community,” he said.
Don’t Call It a Coworking Space Tyrone Miner talks about the members of Maricenter. Miner, the founder and dreamer of the business center at 576 Front Avenue, grew up in the Rondo area and attended St. Paul Central High School. (John Oti/Pioneer Press)
At first glance, Mari Center may seem like a traditional coworking space with desks, private offices, and kitchenettes, with entrepreneurs from different industries working under the same roof, but that’s not the case. No, Miner emphasizes.
The Mali Center, named after West Africa’s Mali Empire, helps entrepreneurs run their businesses the way they want, but Miner says the community he’s assembled is more than just a sounding board. he said.
MariCenter members function like an ecosystem, Miner said, providing support, resources and connections to each other.
Johnny Allen Jr., executive director of the youth mentoring nonprofit JK Movement, said the Mali Center has an open-door policy with the organization and the two collaborate frequently.
Although the mentorship program operates from the Jimmie Lee Recreation Center a few miles away, Allen still draws from the resources and community Miner has amassed by working with members like Razak and using gym space. He said he was benefiting from it.
“Tyrone works from a kindness of heart and wants to see everyone succeed and prosper. …Mari Center will continue to grow if it is run by the right people with the right vision. , is an example of what an equal system can look like,” Allen said.
“We believe we have created a model for how to build health and wealth for generations,” Miner said. “This is my dream come true.”
